Chapter 133: Hidden Worries

No one knew exactly what had transpired in the depths of the volcano.

However, it was plain to see that the fully chaotic volcanic world was no longer suitable for treasure hunting. Consequently, Greem mingled with the resentful, departing apprentices, fulfilled his mission requirements, and slipped quietly out of Pamela Town.

When Greem returned to the Magic Swamp as a quasi-adept, the entire tower was shaken.

There had been a time when the name "Greem" was so obscure among the apprentices of the tower that many were unaware of his existence. But now, with his powerful rise, those strong individuals he once had to look up to were left trailing in his wake, becoming the most dejected group of all.

Just as some were still questioning the validity of the news, Wizard Korgen, representative of the Sarubo family, arrived at the Swamp Tower once more and summoned Greem to the fifth floor. Unsurprisingly, Greem’s choice mirrored Mary’s: he agreed to serve the Sarubo family for ten years in exchange for the necessary resources to advance his rank.

Of course, if Greem were confident in securing all the resources required for the official adept advancement ceremony on his own, he could have walked away from the Sarubo family then and there to become a wanderer. However, given the current development trends of the San Dilin region, the policy toward wandering adepts and apprentices without family affiliation was generally hostile and suppressive. Thus, to successfully navigate his apprentice years, Greem still found it unavoidable to join an adept family.

As for the Byron family crest Greem had obtained in the Dark Crypt, it merely signified that the Byron family was willing to provide him sanctuary within the Dagon region; it did not constitute a formal magical contract to join the Byron family.

After meeting with Wizard Korgen, Greem had barely returned before he was dragged into her quarters by Mary, who had heard the news.

"Tell me, what did you do during this mission? How could you suddenly advance to a quasi-adept?" Based on what Mary knew of Greem, this guy never finished a mission smoothly; he always managed to stir up massive trouble halfway through.

Greem merely smiled without answering. He reached out and swept his hand across the table, leaving behind five dark red, mysterious crystals—one large and four small.

"What are these?" Mary curiously reached for the largest one, but the moment her small hand touched the mysterious crystal, she jerked it back.

With a soft hiss, a flame ignited on the crystal, searing her fingers harshly.

Even with Mary’s vampire physique, the fingers that had touched the crystal turned charred black. Yet, she didn't seem to care; with a slight flick of her slender hand, the scorch marks faded, and her fingers returned to their smooth, pale state.

Mary did not act rashly again, instead focusing her mind to recall what had happened.

That sudden flare had not been triggered by an outsider, nor was it the effect of some magical formation; it was the crystal’s own defensive instinct. It was as if... as if it possessed consciousness!

"What is this?" Mary asked again, looking at Greem with a sour expression, baring her sharp canines as if she might bite him if he didn't give a good answer.

"A Tier 2 crystal core!" Greem replied with a strange smile, enunciating every word.

Mary’s delicate red lips murmured the phrase several times before she suddenly realized: "A Tier 2 crystal core? You killed a Tier 2 magical creature? Where is the corpse? Did you extract the blood? Tell me, quickly!"

"Uhh..." Greem spread his hands in frustration. "If I really encountered a Tier 2 magical creature, do you think I could have come back alive?"

"That’s true, I suppose!" Mary laughed sheepishly, feeling somewhat embarrassed by her loss of composure.

After all, she was in the most critical transition period of a vampire’s life, and the fastest way for her to increase her strength was to consume the blood of the powerful. Combined, these two factors were enough to make Mary neurotic; she grew restless and fanatical whenever she heard news of powerful creatures.

Of course, in Mary’s eyes, Greem could now barely be considered among the ranks of the strong. Yet, no matter how persuasively she spoke, Greem would never let her drink his blood. According to the chip’s analysis, any individual whose blood was consumed by a vampire would suffer varying degrees of loss in their own strength.

And these losses were very likely the key to a vampire’s ability to evolve through blood consumption!

Put simply, if Greem allowed Mary to drink his blood, he would likely suffer a drop in his attributes—specifically in his constitution and spirit, the two he valued most. The Toril bloodline apprentice from the Dark Crypt was the perfect example.

That guy had already reached the peak of his apprentice stage and was about to hold his advancement ceremony when he was defeated by Greem’s magical construct combination. Such injuries should have healed in a week or two. However, information fed back from his family indicated that the Toril quasi-adept’s mental strength had declined; while it hadn't fallen below 20 points, it was enough to affect his normal advancement.

Based on numerous such cases, Greem had reason to suspect that the vampire race could extract bloodline factors from the blood they consumed, thereby strengthening themselves while weakening their enemies. Given this, how could Greem ever dare to let Mary drink his blood?

After exchanging information, Mary hurried off to the mission hall to find an apprentice task suited for her. Greem returned to his residence to listen to the work report from the goblin merchant, Kaby.

In the nearly three months Greem had been away, the Swamp Tower had become more active, infused with external information and resources, no longer as stagnant as before. With Mary’s backing, Kaby had even opened the first goblin shop in the tower.

The shop didn't have many items for sale, but every one of them was a rare resource not easily found elsewhere. Recently, Kaby had also set its sights on the group of low-to-mid-tier apprentices, beginning to buy up their temporarily unused spell materials and common resources at low prices.

However, for such a shop to run fully, it required a steady stream of high-end goods to anchor it, otherwise, it would be difficult to attract the apprentices.

After hearing Kaby’s report, Greem nodded in satisfaction and produced a large pile of magic gems and materials from his storage belt, primarily underground fire diamonds. Compared to those apprentices who wandered the outskirts of the volcanic world, Greem had ventured into the heart of the lava sea countless times, where the chances of encountering high-grade magic gems were far greater.

Most of the fire diamonds and magic gems found on the periphery were those washed out by the volcano during its active periods. After being screened by layers of fire creatures, their quality was naturally mediocre. But the fire diamonds Greem brought back from the lava sea were often fist-sized, top-tier specimens. He had even thrown a massive fire diamond the size of a human head to Kaby, telling it to find someone to carve it into the shape of a jade pillow.

This way, whenever he rested his head on it while meditating, the effects would surely be even better!

Once Kaby left, joyous and clutching its pouch, the smile faded from Greem’s face. He began to think seriously about a piece of extremely important information.

During the three months he was gone, Wizard Anderson had publicly announced that he was taking the "Evil Insect" Entik as his disciple. Furthermore, according to Kaby, during this period, Entik had spent nearly every day on the fifth floor of the Wizard Tower, and there was no telling what he and Wizard Anderson were doing there!

Faced with the possible alliance of two enemies, the joy Greem felt from his recent advancement to quasi-adept vanished, replaced by the crushing sense of urgency that time was running out. Now that he was a quasi-adept protected by a family contract, Wizard Anderson might not dare to do anything to him openly, but behind the scenes, he could certainly stir up trouble.

Could it be that because he was so close to that Evil Insect Entik, Anderson intended to use the insect's hands to deal with him?

Greem gave a bitter laugh.

Ever since he had thoroughly grasped the conflict of interest between Wizard Anderson and Mary, he knew that sooner or later he would incur Anderson’s hatred. He just hadn't expected the enemy to act so quickly, so pressingly!

In the eyes of these sinister and cunning adepts, all apprentices were nothing more than walking piles of materials. If not for the constraints placed on their behavior by the higher-ups of the adept society, these selfish, greedy creatures would never tolerate the emergence of new adepts who would compete with them for already scarce resources.

However, no matter how the enemies planned and plotted, as long as the speed of his own progress remained ahead of their expectations, any danger or trap would dissipate like smoke, unable to shake his path forward.

Having parsed all of this, Greem immediately drew up a long work plan for the period ahead. Under his own arrangement, it was likely that for the next six months, every day would be fully packed, leaving him not a single moment of leisure.

In this mysterious, alien world, in order to preserve his own life, Greem poured every ounce of his energy and time into the study and research of sorcery.

...

In the goblin Kaby’s room.

Upon returning from its master’s residence, Kaby was plunged into a state of infinite fanaticism!

Every time it pulled a magic gem from the bulging pouch, it would dance with joy, kissing and caressing the stone repeatedly before taking out a detection wand to verify the gem’s attributes and quality.

Looking at the pile of gems growing ever higher before it, Kaby could not have been happier. At this moment, it longed to run back to its master and enthusiastically kiss the tips of his boots. Perhaps only then could its master truly appreciate Kaby’s passion and loyalty!

However, in the midst of this joyful process, a small complication arose.

Among the pile of gems his master had tossed over, Kaby discovered a mysterious white stone the size of a fist. No matter what method it used to test it, it could not detect its attributes, nor could it confirm whether it was a type of magic gem, a material, or the egg of a magical beast!

Even after the detection wand scanned it, the information fed back to its mind was merely "Unknown Alien Object." Since the wand identified it as an object rather than a biological entity, it meant it was not a magical beast egg. And since his master had placed it among the gems, it certainly meant it was of great value.

What concerned the goblin Kaby most was the word "Alien" in the information.

Could this be a mysterious gem from an outer plane?

Kaby scratched its head, forced to cast the mysterious white stone aside on the table, and turned back to process the other gems.